Butler kept Vatican papers marked 'to be destroyed', court told

VATICAN CITY (REUTERS) - Paolo Gabriele, Pope Benedict's former butler who is on trial for stealing sensitive documents, was in possession of some which the pope had marked "to be destroyed", Vatican police testified at his trial on Wednesday.

On the third day of the trial, the police also said that the theft of encrypted documents had compromised some Vatican operations, and that Gabriele had printed instructions on on how to hide computer files and use cellphones secretly.

Mr Stefano De Santis, a gendarme who searched Gabriele's apartment, told the court: "There were dozens and dozens of documents about the Holy Father...there were documents that were considered top secret and to be destroyed".

He said other documents found had to do with the suspicious death of Italian banker Roberto Calvi, who was found hanging from London's Blackfriars bridge in 1982 as well as Italian masonic lodges. The trial was adjourned until Saturday, when the three-judge panel is expected to reach its verdict.